Health & Wellbeing
31
Restoring vision in age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
CASE STUDY
Background
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the main
cause of vision loss in the western world among elderly
people. It occurs due to the deterioration of the layer of
retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells under the macula,
an area at the centre of the retina.
There are very few treatment options for the majority of
AMD sufferers, but researchers at Liverpool are investi-
gating a potential treatment which involves replacing the
diseased RPE cells with healthy cells. Our work aims to
identify appropriate cells to use for transplantation and
to develop the optimum substrate for the technique.
The project
Working with Biomer Technology Ltd, we studied the
behaviour of primary bovine RPE and iris pigment
epithelium cultured on polyurethane membranes.
We harnessed our expertise in biomaterials
development and ocular cell biology to study different
combinations of cells and substrate and optimise
them for transplantation. The research was carried out
in close collaboration with the Clinical Eye Research
Centre, St Paul’s Eye Unit which provided the clinical
setting and potential clinical translation of this research.
Outcomes / benefits
•
The development of a viable membrane ready
for future clinical evaluation
•
Launch of additional new projects with the
partner company Biomer Technology Ltd.
Partner
Biomer Technology Ltd, Health Technologies and Medicines KTN
Activity type
Collaborative research, CASE studentship
Academic lead(s)
Dr Rachel Williams and Dr Carl Sheridan, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences,
Institute of Ageing and Chronic Diseases, Eye and Vision Science
Funded by
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The collaborative research
undertaken has proved to
be extremely important in
developing the knowledge
base and potential future
clinical opportunities
for our range of proprietary
polymer technologies.
Ian Harrison,
Operations Director,
Biomer Technology Ltd
